This text looks at the give-and-take of modern world history. John Weber draws on examples from Europe, the US and the developing world to suggest that the modern political landscape is not polorized between pure socialist and capitalist regimes.

Can capitalist societies permit the uncapitalist? Can capitalism outwit communism by achieving communism's many goals? Is capitalism truely the "end of the World"? In this book John Weber looks at the give-and-take of modern world history. He draws on examples from Europe, the US and the developing world to suggest that the modern political landscape is not polorized between pure socialist and capitalist regimes. Weber shows how society's political fabric has been shaped by "concessions", creating a "socially mixed economy" of capitalism laced with socialism. The study illuminates the eagerness of Communist-led countries to embrace aspects of the market economy. However, "pure socialism" has not been abandoned for "pure capitalism". This book should be useful to economists, political scientists and historians seeking to understand that social gains can develop within opposed political systems.